“What’s your name again? How do you pronounce it?” The teacher looked down at her class roll and repeated the question.
“My name is Rudri.” I responded. The stares of my classmates felt like tiny laser beams that made me feel like I glowed in the dark.
“Ru-dar-y”? Is that how you say it?” She asked again providing extra emphasis on the syllables.
“Um,no. It is pronounced Roo-dri.” I answered, hoping she’d move on to the next student.
“Ok. I know I will get it before the end of the year is up.” She giggled as she called out the name Jennifer.
This scenario occurred for most of my childhood and repeated as an adult. I understand that my name is not typical.
Read the rest of this essay on The First Day.
Image: India-Colours of India by McKay Savage via Flickr.
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
I can understand that it’s not a common name in the US, but even I have been pronouncing it right in my head all this time and I had no idea until I saw you write it out phonetically! People get my name wrong a lot too. There are three ways to pronounce “Tamara” and my way rhymes with “Camera” but isn’t spelled like it. Gives people trouble!
My name is fairly simple. I never liked my middle name and dropped it in favor of keeping my maiden name when I married. Now, I like it and even use part of it in my blog pseudo.